Flat panel displays have become an increasingly popular substitute for projection devices and CRT's. The flat panel display is typically mounted on a structure, such as a wall. Flat panel displays, especially LCD displays, are typically most clearly viewable from a position directly in front of the display. The display image is often too dark or not visible at all if viewed from a significant angle.
It is thus preferable that the angle of a flat panel display can be adjusted for optimum viewing. Various prior art positioning devices have been used, such as friction based hinges, mechanical linkages with springs or other biasing devices, and various mechanical latches. The friction based devices need to be sufficiently strong to hold a relatively heavy flat panel displays, while being easy to operate.
Traditional friction based devices and mechanical latches often require one person to hold the flat panel display at the correct angle, while a second person adjusts the device. Movement in the upward direction requires the operator to lift a substantial portion of the weight of the flat panel display. In some instances, the operator must also overcome the resistance of the positioning device.
Also, the hinge and pivot joints used in prior devices typically enable positioning of the display about only one axis per joint. The degree of display position adjustability of such devices is limited by the number of joints that can be economically and practically provided.
Mechanical linkages with springs are expensive to build. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,419,196 (Sweere et al.) discloses a multi-jointed, pivoted support arm to support and position a flat panel display that uses a nitrogen gas spring counterbalance mechanism. What is needed in the industry is a low-cost, easy to operate, and relatively maintenance free system for mounting and positioning flat panel displays that also offers a high degree of adjustability for display positioning.